Knicks communication issues cropped up again in ugly Game 1 loss

The issue has certainly not gone away.It keeps coming back to bite the Knicks.And they’ve begun to sound like a broken record.“I think we let off a little bit, and then we stopped talking to each other.

Just a little miscommunication,” Mikal Bridges said Thursday.“They got some 3s and obviously [Aaron] Nesmith made a lot of shots.

But we made it easy — didn’t make it harder.He stayed hot and we miscommunicated and he made a couple more, some rhythm ones.”That communication issue has cropped up repeatedly throughout the playoffs, and they’ve vowed to correct it countless times.

It was glaring during the Knicks’ fourth-quarter collapse in their 138-135 Game 1 overtime loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.Nesmith drilled six 3-pointers in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.On four of those six, he walked right into open shots due to the Knicks botching their pick-and-roll coverage.“Some of it was secondary action,” coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday.

“The initial part of it was good, then the re-screen, just having the awareness to make sure that we’re up.I think that was a big part of that.

And then also to realize what is going on in transition.Because sometimes, if someone is picking him up that is not assigned to him, have that awareness that, ‘OK, we have to be up and take things away from him.’ ”OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, in particular, appeared to be on different pages multiple times late in the game.

During one break in action, the two got into an animated argument on the bench.Jalen Brunson had to step in and talk to both and calm them down.“Just guys talking,” Brunson said Thursday of the incident.Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series.The Knicks have altered between switching on all screens and drop coverage throughout the playoffs.

The Pacers’ relentless pace makes it e...